Appearance: Pours a dark brown color with a touch of murkiness. The head is two fingers high and pale yellow in shade. Retention is pretty good, and the head's foamy textures leaves behind some lacing on the glass. When I pour the dregs in, it seems to layer perfectly below the head. (3.5)

Smell: It has the typical red ale malts (caramel, toffee, toasted bread), backed by some piny, grassy hops. Letting it open up will reveal some nice fruit esters like cherry and apricot - still, I wish this quality was a little stronger. However, it provides enough of a twist to raise it above the glut of average amber/red ales out there. (3.75)

Taste: There's a powerful hop flavor to start, one that's herbal, grassy, and even tobacco-like at times. After a few sips, the malt backbone appears. There are nice notes of toast, caramel, and toffee in the middle, before it finishes with light estery flavors. Just like on the nose, I want a bit more of an ester flavor - otherwise, this one is quite good. (3.75)

Mouthfeel: A respectably full body is featured here. Not overly sweet-feeling for the style, and thank cripes for that. There is a bit of residual sugar floating around, but nothing that's crazy. Thanks to the low carbonation, it's more of a sipper than a chugger - not a problem, though... (3.75)

Overall: I always see this around, and I always approach with trepidation (because freshness). But when it is fresh, this is really good. And it actually has a best by date on it - granted, it's not as good as a born on date, but I'll take what I can get. I'll definitely have this again, especially on tap. (3.75)

3.74/5: Definitely not some dime-a-dozen, middle-of-the-road red ale; deserves its status as a classic

Bottle best by 4/2015 (so about 4 months old?):Pours a deep amber, with a good deal of foamy head on a vigorous pour. I did seem to get what I thought was some yeast sediment near the end of the pour. The head does last, however, and laces pretty well.

Nose does give me an impression of being just a tad old, but I also am not sure it's not the normal nose. The amber beer is a bit malty, and that may be interfering with the green hop notes as much as age. The amber notes come through, honey and sweet fleshy fruit notes in the sweetness, floral and green (grass, lemongrass) hops meld together decently well.

The beginning tastes are honey, unripe pear on the sweet side, maybe a less flavorful honeydew. I think this dulling of fruitiness is from the grassy hops that are near the forefront of the taste. They grow throughout, some woody notes being the end result of the dulling attack on the tongue and some pine-notes that aren't too resinous.

The body is maybe a bit north of medium, carbonation accents the feel nicely, adding some action on the tongue without attacking it. In the end, the greenness of the hops don't dry the tongue as much as might be expected.

Be really interested to try this a little fresher. Was initially mildly disappointed in the beer, but I appreciated it a bit more as I analyzed it. As usual, this analysis allowed the beer to warm a bit, which brought out the flavors a bit more. Definitely a re-try, could see 1 half a tick to a tick higher.

Bottle poured into pint glass. Left a half inch creme colored head. Smells very sweet, but still has a bitter aroma to it. It is a very distinct taste to it. Very malty notes upfront, revealing a caramel and burnt sugar flavor that is quickly followed with a dash of hops and a slight alcohol taste and sensation. Absolutely fantastic beer. Real hearty and tasty.

L- poured from 22 oz. into pint glass. - is orangy-red in coloS- slightly piney, malt notes in backT- very malty with a strong bitter kick at the end. this beer is also VERY cold right now - will probably taste differently once it warms up a bit... In a 13 degree garage...F - is very pleasant! Carbonation is pretty lively!Overall - I love Bear Rebublic because their brews are always an adventure. The flavors are superior - and I look forward to each one. This one is not a good as the HopRodRye but good nonetheless!edit/updateI was correct - in a warmer state there is a distinct sweet quality in this beer that is unmistakable! The hoppiness is also more prevalent!delish!